AARON Judge doubled twice and remained at 60 home runs as the host New York Yankees routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 14-2 on Wednesday night.
Judge doubled in his first at-bat, struck out in his second, doubled in his third at-bat and grounded out in the seventh inning before drawing a walk in the eighth. He reached base for the 20th straight game and upped his average to .317 — tied with Boston’s Xander Bogaerts for the American League lead.
Judge is one shy of tying Roger Maris for the AL home run record. Maris broke Babe Ruth’s 1927 mark when he homered on the final day of the 1961 season against Boston.
Oswaldo Cabrera and Gleyber Torres drove in five runs apiece as the Yankees (90-58) won for the 11th time in 15 games.
Cabrera hit his first career grand slam in the first inning and added an RBI double during New York’s eight-run eighth.
Torres hit an RBI single in the fifth before homering twice in the eighth. He opened the latter inning with a solo drive and then belted a three-run shot to cap the rally shortly after Judge was lifted for a pinch runner.
Cabrera’s grand slam occurred after Giancarlo Stanton’s game-ending grand slam gave the Yankees a dramatic 9-8 win on Tuesday.
Josh Donaldson and Jose Trevino chipped in RBI doubles while Harrison Bader hit a two-run double as the Yankees reached 90 wins for the fifth straight time in a full season.
Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a sacrifice fly and an RBI single for the Pirates (55-94), who went 0-6 in a six-game trip through New York against the Mets and Yankees.
New York’s Luis Severino (6-3) returned from missing two months with a lat strain and allowed one run on two hits in five innings. Severino struck out six, walked one and threw 64 pitches in his first outing since July 13.
Former Yankee prospect Roansy Contreras (5-5) allowed six runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings. Contreras struck out 10 and walked two.
Judge doubled on the first pitch he saw. Following walks to Torres and Stanton, Cabrera hit a 1-1 slider into the right field seats for a 4-0 lead.
After the Pirates scored in the fourth, Judge’s double on-hopped into the left field seats and the slugger scored on Torres’ single to right.
Torres opened the eighth with a drive to right for a 7-2 lead and then reached the left field seats to cap the inning. — Reuters
